Sports Writer for The Age

BILL PULVER was watching a Waratahs game in Sydney in 2011 when the true state of Australian rugby struck him. NSW had just put in another listless, uninspired and boring performance and the frustrated crowd, already small in number, let them know it was not appreciated. They booed the team from the field.

''I thought at the time, 'I must be sitting at Yankee Stadium' - that doesn't happen in Australia,'' Pulver said. ''The reality is, in some areas within our supporter base, a sense of disillusionment has settled in … More so in Sydney frankly than many other areas, there has been a loss of our supporter base in terms of our key numbers.''

Now Pulver is in a position to do something about it, having become the new Australian Rugby Union chief executive on Monday. It has been a baptism of fire for the novice sporting administrator, with his first week coinciding with the release of the explosive findings of the Australian Crime Commission report.

But, speaking in Melbourne on Friday afternoon, Pulver, a successful businessman who has worked around the world, made it known he had a clear path to lift rugby union, which has suffered declining television ratings and poor attendances.

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''We in Australia grew up with a game that was acknowledged as being smart, enterprising, creative, running rugby, and that's what we need to get back to,'' Pulver said. ''There needs to be a commitment across all levels of the game to get to smart, enterprising, creative running rugby.''

Pulver said the code had to act quickly and 2013 would be a pivotal year as he tried to implement an agenda that included increasing junior and female participation, lifting the investment in sevens rugby and reintroducing a third-tier competition. This last idea would be unlike the short-lived Australian Rugby Championships. Preferably it would be centred on Super Rugby academy players and provide a ''clear pathway'' to elite competition.

''We make almost all of our money on inbound Test matches, so if we don't grab the core supporter base for rugby right now with the right strategic plans, and win their hearts and minds, we have a big problem in the medium to longer term, potentially being marginalised in a world where the Kenyas and United States and Chinas … are going to see what a beautiful game this is and start embracing it.''

Asked if he had inherited Australian rugby when it was at rock bottom, Pulver said: ''I really don't want to say that.

''I think 2013 is a very important year for us. I do acknowledge we have lost some part of our supporter base and we want to get them back. I acknowledge that sevens rugby, on the global stage, is moving faster than we are. I think there's a lot of opportunities and we need to have the right plan to take advantage of them.

''I would like us to be a little more commercial around how we run the game … if along the way you can be the leading national team in the world, that can be good, too. The initiatives relating to women, sevens, a third-tier competition - I'd like to see many of those starting next year.''